


Dragon’s Teeth

by Eisoj5



Category: Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-12
Updated: 2015-02-12
Packaged: 2018-03-12 00:46:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3337934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eisoj5/pseuds/Eisoj5
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Aegis swings by Earth with a request of Her Royal Highness every once in a while.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dragon’s Teeth

The Aegis swings by Earth with a request of Her Royal Highness every once in a while, sending Stinger as the vanguard. Jupiter has asked if they can’t just trick out her cell phone with some kind of universal calling plan, but they seem to a) not appreciate the pun and b) want to point out that she hasn’t always had the best track record with _keeping_ her phone. 

This time Stinger doesn’t even know exactly what it’s about, only that the Captain insists that Jupiter attend in person. So she gets her boots on, leaves a note for Mom, and is headed out the door well before the alarm. Caine and Stinger fly up with her; badass guardian angels, she thinks, not for the first time, and as she ascends from the extraction point Jupiter finds herself once again musing about the myths and legends the rest of the universe has planted on Earth. 

She asks Stinger about it once they’re on board and headed through a portal. Caine’s asleep, but one pointy ear is still perked straight up; it’s adorable. She’s told him as much. 

“Yeah, pretty much,” Stinger says, running a hand through his short hair and shrugging. “Best to let the underdeveloped worlds think of the royal families as gods—think about your Egyptians, right?”

“But what about the specific stories?” Jupiter presses. “Like Baba Yaga’s hut—was that really a Splice? Or, or, the Greeks—“

Stinger shrugs again. “You’ve seen dragons now, haven’t you? What’s a few details left to the imagination for humans?”

“I guess,” she says doubtfully. She’s about to ask him about why there aren’t any myths about bee people then, when one of the Aegis officers pokes their head in the door. 

“We’re here.”

"Here" turns out to be a huge, glowing, ostentatious chamber centered on what looks to be a giant swimming pool filled with people. Specifically, hundreds, if not thousands, of Balem Abrasaxes, floating asleep in . . . well. No sense in pretending it’s water. It’s _people_. 

Captain Tsing, hands serenely tucked behind her back, says, “I thought you should see them before any decision is made."

“Kalique told me. Since cloning nearly destroyed humanity and all?” 

The captain lifts her gaze from the pool to Jupiter. “What would you like done with them, Your Majesty?”

“Me?” 

Another nod. The slightest raise of an eyebrow makes it suddenly very clear why.

“I told you before, I’m not his mother. I’m not _anyone’s_ mother,” Jupiter protests. “You have laws about cloning anyway!”

For the first time, Captain Tsing looks uneasy. “We do. About cloning humans. But these are not _precisely_ clones of Balem Abrasax—they are Splices.” 

Jupiter takes a closer look. They are—one with clawed feet, another with a tail drifting loosely, more with furled wings—“He made Splices of himself with the dragons,” she realizes. 

“The Sargorn,” Caine corrects her quietly. He is barely holding back a growl.

“As they are not clones, they are not subject to _immediate_ destruction.” Captain Tsing’s tone is anticipatory.

Jupiter opens her mouth to give that order anyway. It’s what the captain wants to hear. Then she sighs and reaches for Caine’s hand. “I’m not Seraphi Abrasax,” she says. “And these . . . people aren’t Balem Abrasax, either. I can’t have them destroyed just because _he_ was a megalomaniac bent on wiping out my entire planet.”

“If I might make a suggestion, Your Majesty?” Stinger says, stepping up just behind her. “Keep them. Raise them as soldiers in your name. You wouldn’t ever have to use them, but with Titus, Kalique, and who knows who else out there . . . ”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Caine agrees slowly. “I can protect you on Earth, but they could protect your interests in the rest of the universe. Turn your enemy into an ally.”

Jupiter purses her lips and thinks. “I need Advocate Bob’s legal advice,” she decides. “Captain Tsing?”

“The Aegis would be happy to escort you to Orrus.” She touches her ear piece and there is a faint rumble as the extraction point is reestablished. 

“I guess,” Jupiter says, throwing one last look over her shoulder at the Balems, “he really liked playing with himself.”

**Author's Note:**

> I...yeah. Guess I'm gonna be tossing a few more of these random post-movies fics out there as they spawn unremittingly from my new-fandom-obsessed brain. And apparently I do mean random!!


End file.
